Un primer acercamiento a la tradición del corrido mexicano en el Valle de Yákima

Abstract

The corrido is recognized as a symbol of Mexican culture, manifested in several ways: by the characteristic melodies and lyrics, by giving voice to marginalized classes and by exposing the socio-cultural situation of the Mexican people. This research project aims to familiarize the reader with the more representative categories of corridos of the Mexican people of the Yakima Valley in Washington State, who emigrated to the northwest in successive waves from the mid-20th century onwards. This study exemplifies and analyzes the most common categories of corridos of the Mexican people from the Valley, including text-types classified as Tragedias pasionales, En elogio de ciudades, and Protesta social. Both the contemporary and the traditional corrido are of interest for their news value since they are aimed at exposing important conditions and events the people consider important. The traditional corrido has its antecedents in the romancero oral which has existed for nearly seven centuries since it was first documented. From the XVII century on, the romancero has survived and spread orally in primarily rural areas. While the traditional corrido was disseminated through oral tradition at the beginning of the twentieth century, today it cannot be solely considered an oral genre because it has become part of a new oral-written tradition. The contemporary corrido, for its part, is rapidly evolving, to accommodate new metric forms and content. In an appendix at the end of this study, I provide a transcription of all the corridos that I had the opportunity to hear and record, together with a few photos and a brief biography of each of my informants. Additionally, the original audio recordings themselves are accessible at this site. Given the limited period of time I had to uncover, document, and record the songs and stories of the Yakima Valley Latino communities, this analysis offers but a first careful if partial study of the corrido as it exists today in the Valley.